Posted on 06/19/2009 10:24:56 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON (AP) - In the strongest message yet from the U.S. government, the House voted 405-1 Friday to condemn Tehran's crackdown on demonstrators and the government's interference with Internet and cell phone communications.
The resolution was initiated by Republicans as a veiled criticism of President Barack Obama, who has been reluctant to criticize Tehran's handling of disputed elections that left hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.
Rep. Mike Pence, who co-sponsored the resolution, said he disagrees with the administration that it must not meddle in Iran's affairs.
"When Ronald Reagan went before the Brandenburg Gate, he did not say Mr. (Mikhail) Gorbachev, that wall is none of our business," said Pence, R-Ind., of President Reagan's famous exhortation to the Soviet leader to "tear down that wall."
Democrats, who are quick to voice their support for Israel anytime the Jewish state is seen as under siege, easily agreed to push through the mildly worded resolution.
Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-sponsor of the resolution, said "it is not for us to decide who should run Iran, much less determine the real winner of the June 12 election.
"But we must reaffirm our strong belief that the Iranian people have a fundamental right to express their views about the future of their country freely and without intimidation," added Berman, D-Calif.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., have proposed a similar measure in the Senate, although a vote was not certain.
The policy statement expresses support for "all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law" and affirms "the importance of democratic and fair elections."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I’m with Ron Paul on this one. Condemnations are useless. Speak softly and carry a big stick.
No, the man to blame for that is the "heroic" interventionist FDR who turned Jewish refugees away from our shores and then compounded his sins by refusing to bomb the railroad lines to the camps. Meanwhile, the great isolationist, H.L. Mencken wanted to let them in.
Ok, let’s look at it a different way. Let’s say you are America and you want to encourage the Iranians to have another election because you think the results are corrupt. Considering that power rests solely in the hands of the mullah ruling class, do you think a resolution passed by the US House of Representatives will further or hinder that cause?
Ron Paul gets more attention that way.
Time to toss these glasses away and get another prescription then :)
We “encouraged” the Iranians through this method to make a revolution for eight years and it did work. Here’s a strange concept. Stay out of the way and the let Iranians make their own revolution (as we did ours) and the Latin Americans made their eyes. Revolutions usually misfire when “encouraged” by self-righteous super powers.
I just can't bother with someone like that.
It appears then your knowledge of the constitution is limited.
My point has been made.
....neatly illustrating my point.
Thank you.
We already have.
And it continues.
You'd be surprised.
I was thinking pretty much the same thing: would Ron Paul not vote for a House resolution declaring apple pie to be the national cake, because he doesn’t find the authority to do it under the Constitution?
Washington knew what the Atom was.
He was the bloke wot married Eve.
—Ron Paul is right on this, not only for idealistic reasons, but also for practical ones.
—We’ve got no dog in this fight, because Mir-Hossein Mousavi is, as one reporter described, “no Lech Walesa or Vaclav Havel, no Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi bent on destroying an evil regime. He is, and has been, a part of the Iranian regime throughout its 30-year history.”
Anyone who thinks that even if Mousavi wins, Iran is going to change for the better, is fooling themselves.—
Bingo! You’ve won the door prize.
Where is the HOPE and CHANGE in Iran?
Until we leave.
Exactly. That House resolution, and $2.69, will buy you a gallon of 87 octane.
I fixed your post.
Thanks for the free advertising.
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